27th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

The original stewards of the vineyard were the chief priests, scribes, and Sanhedrin. They sat upon the seat of Moses and taught with authority. They were entrusted with God’s Law, the temple, liturgical sacrifices, and the spiritual upbringing of the people of Israel. 

Nevertheless, they did not own the vineyard for their role was to tend to it on behalf of the landowner. They forfeited their authority for they used it as their own personal property and proceeded to refuse to heed the warning of the prophets and even put the Son of God to death.

In stating that the Kingdom will be “taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit” the Lord is referring to a transfer of sacred office. Leadership was given to the twelve Apostles with Peter as chief steward to watch over the Church.

The Old Covenant had a priesthood with a visible hierarchy and sacrificial worship. The New Covenant establishes a visible Church with bishops who are successors to the Apostles who act as the new stewards of the mysteries of God. As the people of God who make up this vineyard we must remain united to them.

St. Ignatius of Antioch professed this, “Let no one do anything that pertains to the Church without the bishop. Let that Eucharist be considered valid which is celebrated by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be, just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church."

Bishops and priests are now the tenants of this vineyard. They must remain on guard against clericalism where the faith becomes self-serving and true faith fails to be taught. To act in such a manner is to bring judgment upon self just like those original stewards had done.

The authority of the Church is to bring forth “fruit.” Such “fruit” is that of holiness, charity, and the truth of Christ being made manifest for He is the true owner of this vineyard. If such is not being made manifest in the life of the faithful this is not the failure of the Church, but the tenants who have been tasked with watching over it.

The vineyard is the people of God. It was the purpose of religious authority in the Old Covenant as well as the Church today to cultivate the people in order that they may pursue holiness and love for God.

The Church is made up of the entire body of believers who are bound together in Christ. Every member of the Church shares the responsibility to bear “good fruit.” This is not limited to clergy alone, but is for all the baptized.

In order to pursue such holiness, we have been given the sacraments which act as channels of grace. We can never bear “good fruit” if it does not come from Christ as its origin. We are not to be self-serving with everything done for our own benefit, but for the glory of God from whom all grace flows.

Let us remain in communion with the unity of faith and thus produce a rich harvest of charity and truth.

26th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Repentance is not merely the feeling of being sorry, but is a profound conversion of heart that results in changed behavior. In Ezekiel, the sinner doesn’t just feel remorse; he “turns from the wickedness he has committed, and does what is right and just.” In our gospel the chief priests saw the transformative repentance of public sinners, yet “did not later change [their] minds and believe in him.”

In the words of Saint Josemaria Escriva, “To convert means to return. Conversion is a matter of a moment; sanctification is the work of a lifetime. The divine seed of charity sown in our souls wants to grow… and that means we must continually begin again.”

Our initial conversion occurs at baptism or during our first awakening to the faith. This initial conversion is a turn from darkness to light where original sin and past sins are forgiven. It is here that sanctifying grace is poured into the soul. The majority of us present here have already undergone this first stage of conversion.

The second stage of conversion is one that is ongoing. Our human nature remains wounded by concupiscence which is the inclination to sin. Therefore we must remain on guard through a continuous, daily conversion. Through acts such as self-examination and the sacrament of confession we continually surrender ourselves unto grace.

We cannot have true conversion that is built upon on our own strength for it is a gift of God’s grace. God’s grace touches the heart and prompts the soul to respond. We are free to do nothing with this prompting despite the fact that its origin is from God. As the prophet Jeremiah prayed, “Convert me, and I shall be converted, for you are the Lord my God.”

An initial turn toward God does not grant us a permanent exemption from moral vigilance. Conversion cannot just lie in the past for it must be continuously lived in the present. Baptism is not a one time action of the past, but one that continuously invites us to be vigilant in making the choice that we will cooperate with God’s grace and live for the Lord.

Jesus condemned the religious leaders in our gospel because they relied on their heritage and status to assume that they were spiritually secure. Nevertheless, they refused to change their lives when they were called to repentance. It is the sin of presumption to choose to continue to sin without care. We must rebuke such a thought and strive for final perseverance.

Final perseverance means that one remains in the state of sanctifying grace at the moment of death, thereby attaining eternal salvation. In the words of St. Matthew, “The one who perseveres to the end will be saved.” Let us undergo the daily conversion that is necessary in order that we put to death all sinful thoughts and behaviors and truly live for Christ.

25th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

There is a temptation that exists to drift through life as if asleep. We live the pattern of waking up, going to work, consuming media, fulfilling our basic duties, and going to sleep. Before we know it time slips away, as days turn to weeks and weeks to years. Instead of functioning out of mere habit, we must make an intentional choice that every day is a non-renewable gift that comes to us from God.

Saint Paul sees remaining in the flesh as “fruitful labor” which is to say that every ordinary action takes on eternal weight when it is offered unto God. We are not just caught up in a meaningless cycle for we have been extended a purposeful mission. Life on earth is short and so our goal must be eternal life.

Pertaining to life and death Saint Paul remarked, “I am caught between the two” while understanding that “to depart this life and be with Christ” is “far better.” Our ultimate goal is not the pursuit of pleasure, career, legacy, status, or comfort as ends in themselves, but is for something far greater (Heaven and union with God).

Our Gospel passage makes it clear that we have been called to a much greater purpose and that we can’t squander the time that has been set before us. Saint Paul chooses life not because he was afraid to die, but because he saw earthly life as a vocation of fruitful labor that was done with purpose.

Saint Therese of Lisieux had such an ardent desire for Heaven. In faith she understood that death was not the end, but an awakening into eternal life. As she would state, “I am not dying; I am entering into eternal life,” but also “I desire neither death nor life. Were Our Lord to offer me my choice, I would not choose. I only will what He wills, and I am pleased with whatever He does.”

Staying alive is a desperate necessity if we do not believe what is to come. When we have belief in Christ we know that He awaits us and thus remaining alive is not about survival, but is about making a conscious decision to serve others and to do all that we do with purpose.

We are being called by the Master of the Vineyard at this very hour and He is inviting us with urgency to offer our work, our sacrifices, our daily interactions to Him with renewed intention and love. We are free to reject such an invitation, but to do so would be to squander the time that has been set before us, to act as if life on earth is all that we have to look forward to, and to potentially be found unworthy of the Kingdom of Heaven for we wanted nothing to do with it.

Let us depart from here with the desire to actively embrace every moment of our life as a non-renewable gift given to us by God: to serve our neighbor and to point the world toward the glory that awaits us in Heaven. As the soon to be Blessed Fulton Sheen would say, “life is worth living.”

24th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

The command to forgive “seventy-seven” times is not a multiplication problem that equals 490. Rather, what is being demanded of us is an infinite and perpetual readiness to forgive. The number seven represents perfection and expressing it as seventy-seven shows the importance of an infinite disposition towards forgiveness.

This command flips around what was stated in Genesis concerning vengeance, “If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.” In this thought process no matter how small the offense would be met with endless retaliation. Jesus takes this mindset and turns it around to where we are called to embrace infinite mercy.

As we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” To possess such forgiveness we must realize that it is rooted in God. Human forgiveness is not a natural human output because it is a response and participation in the divine mercy that we have already received from God.

Forgiveness is not the acceptance of evil nor does forgiveness mean that we must be someone’s best friend. Forgiveness requires calling a sin what it truly is. Forgiveness releases personal vengeance, but does not eliminate the demand for justice. Forgiveness is not forgetting the harm done to us, but is to look upon an offense without the desire for malice.

Forgiveness is an act of the will to release the debt which is owed, to forgo vengeance, and to desire the spiritual good of the offender. Each time that resentment resurfaces the choice to forgive must be renewed. Through forgiveness we break the bond of resentment allowing the victim to heal and live in spiritual freedom.

In order to forgive we must not confuse feeling with deciding. Feelings of pain, anger, or grief are involuntary reactions to injustice. A feeling of anger does not mean that you have failed to forgive. Forgiveness is an active choice of the will where we refuse vengeance and thus the desire to wish harm upon another. We can choose to forgive while the heart still hurts.

Forgiveness is a process and not a one time event. In forgiving seventy-seven times we are not being told to forgive seventy-seven different offenses only, but to forgive the same offense perfectly. Old wounds can easily be reopened through memories, anniversaries, or seeing the individual. Each time such bitterness returns we are presented with the opportunity to renew our decision to forgive instead of giving into unforgiveness.

In the Eucharist we see self-sacrificing love and through it we are given the strength to extend mercy that we can never give through our human effort. Through the sacrament of confession we allow God’s grace to heal our wounds by clearing away any resentment and hatred that has taken root in our heart. Let us embrace such perfect forgiveness as we direct our sight towards the altar of sacrifice and thus Christ present with us in the Most Holy Eucharist.

22nd Sunday of OT Year A Homily

The word “duped” makes it sound as if God tricked Jeremiah with false promises. From Hebrew this word could also mean enticed, persuaded, or attracted. Therefore, God did not trick Jeremiah with false promises for He warned him much earlier that he would face opposition. Jeremiah is expressing that he could not resist this prophetic call because he was enticed by God’s love and truth.

He was so swept up by the beauty and power of God’s call that he did not yet fully grasp how much human suffering would come with it. Despite that original attraction he now faced being mocked, thrown into a pit, and isolation from his own community. 

Jeremiah wanted to quit preaching because it brought him so much pain, but God’s word was “like a fire shut up in my bones.” Such a statement expresses what we as Christians must now come to know and believe, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

For us the cross isn’t something which is optional. Following God does not guarantee comfort, approval, or earthly success. Jeremiah was unable to escape the suffering that came with his calling, just as a true disciple of Christ cannot escape the cross. The cross is something which is always part of our life, but in embracing it we do not fail, but grow in our love for Him.

Jeremiah felt as if he were “duped” because his life has become ruined by his call from a worldly sense. Nevertheless, he surrendered to the “burning fire” rather than running away, he chose to remain faithful to God no matter the cost. Likewise, the cross comes first and it is the only road that will lead us to true life and the resurrection.

Peter shows his lack of understanding in all of this by taking Christ aside to protest, “God forbid, Lord!” Here Peter is thinking as human beings do, he wants the victory of the Messiah, but he wants it without the pain and ridicule that comes from the cross. Neither Jesus nor can we take the easy way out by abandoning the cross.

The spiritual life must move beyond a feeling for it demands something hard from us, that we choose to live our life for Christ. This means that we choose to stand firm with Him no matter the cost, even if it means that the world will mock us. Through embracing such a reality we take up the cross which transforms our heart into an enduring love for Christ that becomes who we are.

Jeremiah complained, vented, and felt betrayed, but he didn’t walk away. Peter panicked and tried to reject the cross, but eventually he took up his own. Likewise, we cannot get caught up in the glamour of faith without the cost that it brings. Let us choose to take up the cross and follow after Him instead of so easily turning away from it and thus too Christ.